Afghan authorities say Taliban militants are responsible for the decapitation of two boys, aged 10 and 16.

Kandahar Province police spokesman Ghorzang Afridi say the boys were returning home after searching for food near police and army checkpoints on June 9 when they were stopped by Taliban militants "who beheaded them for being spies."

Afridi said villagers in the Zhari district found the bodies of both boys the following day and reported the killings to authorities.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yusuf Ahmadi denied his group had any part in the murders.